Heading into “Small Business Saturday” following Thanksgiving, Karen Callan never got around to hanging up a sign marking the annual promotion.
Turns out she didn”™t need to ”“ since Callan, Lonnee Gayle Star and Louise Tynan hung out their shingle just off Greenwich Avenue, foot-traffic has not been an issue.
As the holiday shopping season nears its zenith, independently owned retail shops continue to crop up in Fairfield County, including this month with The General Store of Greenwich. The store sells an eclectic mix of home and leather goods sourced or designed by the three women, who met only a few years ago, but found they shared a common goal to open their own independent store.
“We”™re three women ”¦ who were bored, and we”™re all very creative,” Callan said. “We want to keep producing and being creative and being entrepreneurial. Retirement is a punishment.”
Fewer people aspire or dare to do run their own stores today ”“ though sizable pockets of independent retailers still thrive in Fairfield County. Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, likens his city”™s downtown of late to a game of musical chairs, as existing and new retailers trade up to fill spaces as they come onto the market.
Over a quarter century between 1982 and 2007, chain stores vastly outstripped independents in total sales nationally, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study released last December. While independents held their own in the recession of the late 1980s, in the recession of 2001 chains continued their growth with independents registering a flat-line then and since.
In 2007, the most recent year studied by the Census Bureau, Americans spent more than $6,500 at chain stores versus about $2,500 at independent stores.
Some independent categories fared well however ”“ for instance, sales at specialty food stores such as organic grocers sprouted at a far healthier pace than that of regular supermarkets, at 23 percent to just 3 percent.
Among retail establishments nationally, the market share captured by locally owned independent businesses declined from 59 percent in 1990 to 48 percent as of 2009, according to a Civic Economics study published in October and sponsored by American Express Co.
Of 15 major metropolitan areas studied by Civic Economics, however, New York City independents had easily the best performance on an index used for the study, well ahead of runners-up Miami and Boston.
“With surprising consistency, we found that growth in a nearby independent business district was tightly associated with increased home values in excess of the gains shown in the broader market,” the researchers wrote in their report. “Among the 27 business districts studied, adjacent neighborhoods out-gained their broader markets by 50 percent over ”¦ 14 years.
“None are the wealthiest in the region; many are more funky than chic; some are daytime destinations, others nighttime, but most offer a balance of shopping, dining, and drinking establishments,” Civic Economics added. “The one constant across these neighborhoods, and the sole reason we selected them for study, is the presence of an indie-driven business district.”
As for Small Business Saturday, American Express reported that customers using its card at small businesses that day rung up purchases at a 28 percent higher clip than last year.
That”™s the appeal of the independent retailer, Callan said.
“What you see here ”“ you can”™t order it. It”™s one of a kind.”
